


Enough

by neilmackays



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 07:05:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9709736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neilmackays/pseuds/neilmackays
Summary: It has to be enough for now.





	

She's heartbroken. 

_'I'm not good enough for you.'_

The words echo in her head. She feels like maybe she's in one of those dramatic teen movies, but this is real. Why had she allowed herself to hope at all? 

_'I'll never be good enough for you.'_  
  
***

He stares out the window and across to Betty's; the same windows they looked through for years as they grew up together. This time, though, her blinds are shut, his texts are being ignored, and his heart sinks a thousand feet. What has he done?

***

The next morning, Betty stands on her toes and rocks back and forth and she thinks she's about to drown. She's about to sink and fall and gasp for air and - the door opens. And he's there, and he's smiling, and the look on his face is so relieved that it's enough for now to keep her floating on the surface. 

*** 

He won't admit it, but his heart misses a beat at the sight of her on his doorstep. 

"Walk me to school?" she asks, and he's sure the smile on his face looks as relieved as he feels.

***

They're sitting together at lunch when Veronica asks him to play. Then he strums and starts to sing and-

She can't do it. 

She wants to, she wants to be that girl - but she can't. She loves him - she does. And one day she'll be okay that he doesn't love her back. But right now, she's not. 

So she runs. She hears him calling her name, and then it stops. As she reaches the girls bathroom and shuts herself in a stall, she curses the day she'd ever agreed with herself to let a boy break her heart. 

***

She's running across the field, and he's desperate to make her stay. 

But his name is being called, and he knows he can't ignore Mr. Weatherbee. So he stops calling after her. He can't do anything but watch her go - and watch a little piece of his heart go with her. 

***

Deep down, Betty's always known that if anyone was going to break her heart, it would be Archie Andrews. Since the day he'd knocked on her door in the fourth grade and shown her his treehouse, she hadn't had much of a choice.

***

She hasn't spoken to him in days, and it feels like a part of Archie is missing. He'd tried to focus on school, on football, on music, but the only thing he could get out were lyrics about what it means when you break someone else's heart and you end up breaking your own, too.

***

Betty puts all of her work into cheerleading and school, and avoids eye contact with Archie in class. When the day of the big game comes, she thinks she's prepared to see him and to cheer him on. 

She's not.

***

He sees her on the field with the rest of the River Vixens, but he knows he has to talk to Jughead first. When he turns to head back, he sees that she's gone - until she isn't. 

Suddenly she's in front of him, all blue eyes and blonde hair, and his heart is in his throat and her hand is on his face. It's over way sooner than it should be. 

As he's whisked away onto the field, all he finds himself thinking is, _how did I miss that feeling before?_

***

She performs. 

She does her best, like she always does, and she does it well. Then she works up the courage to bring her new friend to a sacred spot that was once reserved for a redhead and a blonde. 

As they sit in the booth at Pop's, she finds her fingers flexing a bit too much in the quiet moments when the memory of fingers on skin hits her.

She knows he's walked in as soon as Veronica's face changes. Of course he was here - just like clockwork.

She puts on a brave face and turns, and the look on his face is hopeful. He'd break her resolve sooner than later, she knows, because he's _Archie_ , and she's _Betty_. So she nods, and slides into the seat to make room, and tries to ignore the arm slung around the back of her seat.

***

He doesn't know if it's fair, how close he wants to be to her. But she doesn't move, and his arm stays loose around her and their bodies are close in the small booth and it's enough for now.

***

They're walking home, and Jughead and Veronica are long gone. It's just the two of them and the stars and the silence. It's not as awkward as she'd expected, but it's still not entirely right and she hates it. She hates that she feels too much. 

When they reach her door, he sends her a tentative smile and holds his arms open for a hug. Her breath catches, and she shakes her head gently, and his face falls. 

***

He wasn't sure if he should do it. Hugging was a ritual for them. Things had been somewhat normal that evening, and he just wanted her to smile at him again. But she freezes when he offers, and he can't catch his face before it falls.

"It's just..." she smiles sadly, and his heart breaks a little more at the sight of it. "Being close to you is hard for me right now, Arch."

He nods, because he does love her. And he knows this is what she needs. But as she turns away, he feels a weight fall on his shoulders and he wonders, not for the first time since the night of the dance, if he's made a huge mistake.

"Betty," he calls after her softly. She turns, and he takes in a sharp breath. He doesn't know what he means to say; something along the lines of _I do. I love you. I just don't know how._ But his mouth opens and what comes out is, "Good night."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this! Comments are appreciated :)


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